Essay about Environmental themes in the Poem " Dust" by Judith Wright

The book opens up to the dust bowl and how dry and broken soil remains of the once fertile land. The soil in the land has all dried up leaving behind dead weeds, grass, and failed crops. Families get accustomed to this new reality, filled with dust everywhere, a hiding sun, deep cracks in corn field, gophers and ants build home out of the dry dirty, and waterless clouds: “House were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came it so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes” (Steinbeck 5). The dust is now a part of the families lives everywhere they look and everything they touch has a sheet of dust that comes with it. The opening scene talks about

The wind is first described as “a cold November wind,” to give a detailed first look of its chaos. Petry then uses catalogue to list off what the wind tosses, “theater throwaways, announcements of dance and lodge meetings…” This imagery used indicates that the hostile wind is throwing aside what people may cherish and important events. Another use of imagery can be found in line 22-24, “It found all the dirt and dust and grime on the sidewalk and lifted it up so that the dirt got into their noses.” Petry includes this to show how the wind did not care for people’s privacy or well being. The wind is a major obstacle to everyone because of its hostile behaviour, “Each time she thought she has the sign in focus, the wind pushed it away from her so that she wasn’t certain,” (lines 45-47.) These examples to the reader of how hostile the wind truly was in the city, which indicates on the narrator’s mostly negative look on the urban setting. The narrator is constantly in a battle with the urban setting and it’s obstacles within

The poem opens with the speaker describing the cliche end of the world scene all apocalyptic movies are based on which introduces the reader to Collin's continual use of vivid imagery. His description of a cinematic ending to life as we know it is a perfect example of the romanticism the speaker believes is put on everything in order to lessen the pain. The speakers more realistic prediction of how the world will reach its demise includes “a black tarpaulin... {and} a hand crumple{ing} the cosmos into a paper ball” ( 17).

In the novel Out Of The Dust, by Karen Hesse, there were two meaningful phrases that enriched the story. These were “A sea of dust” (33) and “Out of the dust” (197). These phrases were significant because they gave the setting of the story and the theme of the story, about how Billie Jo came out of the Dust Bowl strong.

In the poem Fields of Flashing Lights from the novel Out of the Dust, the social, emotional, physical, and mental effects of the dust storm are shown, but the social effect is the most prominent. The verses, “the dust came, tearing up fields where the winter wheat, set for harvest in June, stood hopeless,” demonstrate how the community will be affected. This little town in Oklahoma is already struggling, due to the Great Depression, and now that their crops are being destroyed they won’t be able to make money to buy food, or grow their own food. Many in the town haven’t had a good crop since the bounty of 1931 and many farmers like Billie Jo’s father are planning on, or already did, take out loans from President Roosevelt, in hopes of a good

Similarly, the water being compared to a wolf causes the reader to believe that the ocean is dangerous, and warns that in response to our careless misuse of nature, there will be consequences. In this poem Wright attempts to portray a variety of messages. Firstly, Wright conveys an element of caution, especially given the nonchalant attitude of the Australian stereotype. We cannot live constantly in an insouciant manner, as it can leave us vulnerable to any harm or serious consequences. Secondly, that destroying nature will not cause us to gain power, as we will always subservient to nature. Nature is the one aspect of life that we must accept as

The diction and personification of dust portrays that Will Mays wasn’t murdered, but instead had to withstand ridicule and physical pain. Within the short story, “Dry September”, it is written that, “the dust swallowed them [white men]” (179). The denotation of dust is waste matter that is on a surface or in the air. Having waste matter in the air conveys that an unwanted or rejected substance swallowed the car, and the white men inside. However, when a African American isn’t present, the air is described as “flat and dead” (173).

Many authors have written argumentative articles pertaining to either Evelyn Waugh or Evelyn Waugh’s works, more specifically, A Handful of Dust. Reading these articles can not only broaden one's view of Waugh, but one could also gain writing strategies on how to construct argumentative papers as well. For instance, when looking “‘Ghastly Good Taste’: The Interior Decorator and the Ethics of Design in Evelyn Waugh and Elizabeth Bowen” by Mary Elizabeth Curtin, “Through Comedy towards Catholicism: A Reading of Evelyn Waugh’s Early Novels” by Michael Gorra, “‘Was Anybody Hurt?’: The Ends of Satire in A Handful of Dust” by Jonathan Greenberg, and “The Waste Sad Time: Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust” by Jean Ward. Although each of these articles

”Dust in the WInd” talks about death and how all we are is dust in the wind and what is the point of doing something like when it says “nothing last forever don’t hang on” the only thing that last forever

Shumsky, Neil L. "Dust, Disease, Death and Deity: Constructing and Deconstructing the "Dust Bowl"." The Journal of American Culture, vol. 38, no. 3, Sept. 2015, pp. 218-31. ProQuest Central, ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1852704717?accountid=12085. Accessed 27 May 2018.

An artist who compares the Dust Bowl to nowadays’ air pollution is Heather Watts. Her best known picture is the “New Dustbowl Blues”.

As you glance out your window you notice the big, bright, yellow ball in the air you see every day but not today. It shined down on the beautiful flower bed mom created. Farther down the road clouds of dust and debrief gather around the land. In a panic you rush down to the basement to grab ma. That’s when you notice you had witnessed a world catastrophe, The Dust Bowl. The dust bowl is a part of history that stunned many lives, shattered dreams, ended careers. It made people starve and stripped people of their homes. The dust in the air was dirt from farmlands. This was America’s worst drought since 1965. Also clouds of grasshoppers’ gathered around with the dust and debrief. The dust Bowl is an event that effected farmlands, homes, and children.

Within her poetry, Dickinson glorifies the ways in which the natural world is a place to escape. The nature scenes that present themselves in Dickinson’s poems are mystical, enticing and even god-like. In “It sifts from Leaden Sieves,” Dickinson paints a beautiful winter scene. Adding to the enchantment of the natural world, she never directly states that the “it” before her is snow. This lack of labeling can imply that the speaker has found themselves in a daze, unable to fully comprehend the miraculous scene. In contrast, Chang explicitly defines the subject matter in her poetry, most prominently in “We Found The Body Of A Young Deer Once” and “About Trees.” Instead of labeling, Dickinson characterizes the beauty of the snow with delicate verbs and metaphors, like “sifts” (l. 1), “powders” (l. 2), “ruffles” (l. 17), “crystal vail” (l. 12), and “Alabaster Wool” (l. 3).

All great poets evoke emotional and intellectual responses from their readers. Judith Wright is one such poet as she uses a wide range of appropriate language and poetic techniques to challenge the responder with complex ideas, such as the inherent flaws in our nature and the folly of chasing total perfection in Eve to her Daughters, challenging the individual to question their role in a post-Edan world. The idea of finding our individual place in the world is again apparent in Remittance Man which despite its distinctly Australian feel evokes strong emotion in a wide range of audiences challenging them to think about whether or not it’s a person place in the world that truly defines who they are. In both

“It’s finally over” said Menzil with a sigh. “It is if they all gathered here” affirmed Vorél.